Page 60 of Another Love, Another Time

River

So, shit didn’t exactly hit the fan. Well, not yet.

It’s been a few weeks since Auggie and I spoke about everything.

Since then, we’ve been working every day on our cases, which has kept us pretty busy.

He reached out to his ex-partner, and she said she had something to tell him, but she needed to do it in person.

Today was the first day that both of them had a free day. He had to drive down to St. Louis. I’m very curious to hear what she says.

In the meantime, I have continued to speak with both my captain and the district attorney to draw up an agreement for JD’s immunity. I’ve also spoken with JD about this, and he will do whatever I ask of him.

He’s a little nervous, especially now that he has a family. His wife called, crying. I understand. She doesn’t want to lose her husband or her baby’s father. I promised her that I would not say or do anything until I’m one hundred percent sure that there is no way this could come back on JD.

After we spoke, I think she felt a lot better.

He has done a lot of work to be a better man.

I don’t want him to get into any trouble.

I won’t take the deal to him until I allow an attorney to read through to make sure it’s a solid agreement.

I’ve offered to send the deal to him, and he can have his own attorney look over it.

My mom has been trying to get hold of me. I sent her a message letting her know I’m mad at her and that when I’m ready to talk to her, I’ll let her know. I’m hurt right now, and I don’t want to say things I may regret later. Also, I'm just not ready.

I called both my sister and brother and gave them a heads-up just in case she called them. I’ve changed my locks, so her key to my house won’t work anymore.

One day, I came home, and she and Aunt Connie were sitting on the porch.

I just kept driving. Auggie told me I could hang out at his house, but I don’t want to be anywhere Melissa has lived.

That led to a conversation about Auggie selling his house.

He doesn’t want to live anywhere I won’t come to visit.

He’s talked to his mom since the morning when the moms came over. He told me they just want to apologize, but I’m not ready for an apology. I want to see how they react when I put Melissa behind bars. He agrees that right now, I can’t trust them to be on my side.

Auggie’s been staying with me. The first couple of nights, I made him go back to his house, but then Melissa started to text him and leave him voicemail messages, threatening me. Who knows if Melissa will manipulate someone else into attacking me?

Auggie wanted to block her, but I convinced him to keep them as evidence, just in case she tries to pull something. He has already filed a restraining order against her. I can’t file one against her since she had one filed against me already.

Auggie’s been staying in the guest room. I’m trying to keep this relationship as professional as possible, but I won’t lie; it’s nice to have someone here. We eat dinner every night while binge-watching Rookie Blue, one of my favorite series.

~~

Today, I’m working at my desk. I just got out of a meeting with the DA. I have a headache and need some Aleve. Of course, I forgot to refill the bottle in my bag. I’ll just check Auggie’s desk to see if he has any.

I walk around to his side and pull the bottom drawer out, but all I see are case files. Finally, I find a bottle in the middle drawer. I shake two into my hand and put it back in its place when I notice a frame lying facedown.

On my first day, I saw him throw a frame into his desk. My stomach drops. “What if it’s a picture of him and Melissa?” I wonder.

I know they weren’t together, but it would hurt, knowing he would keep a picture of her. I’m shaking. I shouldn’t even be in his desk, but that doesn’t stop me. I need to see what picture was so important to him that he felt he had to hide it from me.

When I turn it over to see what the frame holds, I almost drop it.

It immediately brings tears to my eyes. It’s the picture his mom took of us at his eighth birthday party when we both dressed like our favorite superheroes.

In the picture, we are hugging each other with big smiles on our faces.

That was before Melissa took my thunder with her gift.

“Why would he have this on his desk? Why would he want to hide it from me?” I question. I wipe the stray tear from under my eye and place it back in his drawer. I make sure I have my two pills, return to my chair, and swallow the pills.

I decide to shake off my thoughts about the picture. I’ll ask him about it later.

~~

Auggie comes in, sits down, and places a folder on top of our pizza box.

I ask around a mouthful of pizza, “What’s this?”

“Proof, but we can’t use it.”

I’m disappointed, but we probably have all the evidence we need already. I really think that after this deal with JD, we can arrest her, especially after talking with the DA today.

I pick up the file. Auggie opens the box and grabs a slice of pizza. As I’m looking through, I see that his ex-partner was having an affair with the mayor of Hannibal. I’m assuming that when she started getting threats from Melissa, he helped her get transferred.

“Are they still seeing each other?” I ask.

“She says no, that once she transferred, their relationship ended. She said we could use the information but wanted us to use it as a last resort. She knows she should never have gotten involved with a married man, but she doesn’t want to hurt his wife and kids if she doesn’t have to.”

“We’ll keep it in our back pocket.” I drop the files on the table, grab another slice of pizza, and turn on Rookie Blue.

~~

A few more weeks go by. JD is coming down to sign the deal put together by the DA. I’ve had two lawyers look over it. I’ve sent it to JD, and he’s had a lawyer look over it too.

As long as JD provides all the information and doesn’t lie, he will get immunity.

They will use that information to arrest Melissa for orchestrating my attack.

We also provided the information from Auggie’s ex-partner, just in case they need it and will be giving her a heads-up.

I’m sure she will let the mayor know as well.

I also had Auggie provide all the messages and voicemails Melissa has been leaving on his phone. The captain wanted to keep a patrol car outside of my house when Auggie is not with me, but I declined. I can take care of myself.

Auggie continues to stay in the guestroom. Even though I want to keep this professional, it’s nice having someone to hang out with. I’m still trying to keep him at arm’s length.

Last week, we went grocery shopping, and when I came out, someone had slashed my tires.

I’m almost positive it was Melissa, but when Auggie had the store pull the tapes, we couldn’t tell.

I could have handled it, but it was nice he was there to help.

He went back inside the store, bought four new tires, got them replaced, and went through tapes.

The store also put our stuff in their pickup area so our food wouldn’t go bad. I wanted to kiss him that night for everything he did, but I didn’t. “Why wasn’t he like this growing up?” I question.

After reviewing the tapes, he was convinced it was Melissa too. We could see a figure whose face was covered.

He had completely cut Melissa out of his life. Will that last? Can I trust him? I really want to trust him.

I’ve been stressed about the deal for JD. Auggie noticed and brought me my favorite dessert the other night. He’s slowly breaking down my defenses.

We have fallen into somewhat of a routine.

We wake up and run or work out together in the morning.

We drive separately to work. We never know how our day will end up, but we have started taking turns cooking or bringing something home to eat.

Then, we watch TV and talk until we go to our separate beds.

I have noticed that he has started sitting closer to me.

Every once in a while, I’ll lay my head on his shoulder, but it hasn’t gone further than that.

I like being close to him, and I feel giddy when he’s near.

I feel things I’ve never felt with anyone else, but I stomp those feelings down.

We still have a lot of work to rebuild our friendship.

Tonight, he’s going to be a little late. He’s putting his house on the market. We’ve agreed he can stay with me until he finds something else. He’s going to meet with the realtor to go over what he needs to do to get the house ready.

I started supper a while ago, and I anticipate him coming home any minute. “Home.” I cannot believe it. He’s only here temporarily, and I’m already thinking of this as his home.

I roll my eyes at myself. The timer goes off, and I pull the enchiladas out of the oven. I’ll wait for Auggie before eating. I walk into the living room and queue up our show.

I glance at my watch, and since he’s a little late, I’ll send a quick text.

River: How much longer? Waiting to eat.

I wait another ten minutes. Fuck it. I’m hungry. I plate up my food and put on the game. I may eat without him, but I won’t start the show without him.

I push the food around with my fork. I’m hungry, but my appetite has vanished. I have a gut feeling that something is wrong. When I finally finish my food, he still hasn’t responded. Worry claws at me. Since I’ve been back, he usually responds immediately.

I decide to give him a call. It rings a couple of times, but he still doesn’t pick up. I feel like my guts are being shredded by anxiety.

Just as I hit the button to redial, I get an incoming call. It’s Mackey.

“Hey, have you seen Auggie? I’ve—”

He cuts me off, “River, he’s at the hospital.”

That’s all I hear before my phone falls from my hands.